Isolation and Identification of Micro Organism from Stored Pap

Corn (zea mays) is one of the cereals which is an important raw material in human diet, Pap is a fermented non-alcoholic starchy food and is a major staple food that is widely consumed in West Africa. This project is the determination of isolation and determination of microorganisms in stored pap. Nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar plate were incubated at 370C for 24hrs for bacterial and 250C for 3-5days respectively. After 5days of culturing, growth colonies were identified based on cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics. The fungi isolated were Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma spp., Rhizospore nigrican and Passolora bacillgers. Fungi isolates in stored pap are of serious health threat; some spies of Aspergillus are known to produce mycotoxins which are harmful to man, thus presence in stored pap is undesirable. Consumption of excessive amount of these chemicals in the stored pap product can cause illness or death. Since pap is consumed by a large population and of a great economic value, it should be stored under controlled environment that would not be favourable for the growth of fungi flora thereby preventing deterioration of the stored pap and reduction in the chemical composition. It is therefore recommended that stored pap should be handled and refrigerated hygienically to reduce the effect of fungi.